


dear future catra

by Miraculyss (BroadwayyyBabyy)



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora (mentioned) she will be in chapter 2!!, Bad at tagging, Canon Compliant, Catra finds something she shouldnt have, Catra goes back to the frightzone, Cute, Diary/Journal, F/F, For the first time, Friendship, a stupid two shot fic i couldnt get outta my head, catra centric, catra has friends, catradora (mentioned), friends being friends, scorpia & catras friendship is so underrated, there will be catradora in part 2!!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:35:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25078480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BroadwayyyBabyy/pseuds/Miraculyss
Summary: its been over a year since the war ended, and Scorpia wants to renovate the fright zone.while there, Catra makes an interesting discovery
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Catra & Scorpia (She-Ra)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 90





	dear future catra

**Author's Note:**

> She-Ra has been the only thing on my mind since i finished it and Catra deserves rights
> 
> that is all thank u

Yellowed skies were looming, thick, smoggy air surrounding her. The smell of burnt plastic and smoke filled her nose, and Catra only had one thought.

_Home_. In a really, really fucked up way.

She stood just before the entrance, feeling her whole body stiffen as the memories she had in this place flashed before her eyes. Some good, but most of them were just… sad. Especially in comparison to her new life in Brightmoon. 

Catra took a deep breath, preparing herself for the sight she was about to see. It’d been over a year since she’d returned to the fright zone. She wasn’t sure if _anyone_ had been here since the war ended. There really hadn’t been a reason to, after Horde Prime’s invasion.

Catra shivered at the thought, ghastly green eyes flashing before her own. She shook herself out of it, reminding herself that he was gone, forever.

Behind her, a voice called out, “Catra! Wait up!”

Coming up the path of broken stones and concrete, Scorpia was carrying so many boxes, she had to peak her head around them to see where she was going.

“I wouldn’t have to wait if you’d move a little faster,” Catra snapped, but there was no edge in her voice. 

Scorpia laughed, “I wouldn’t be going so slow if you’d carry some supplies.”

Catra rolled her eyes, trying hard not to think about how familiar this felt to her. Too familiar.

Cleaning up the fright zone had been Scorpia’s idea. It was once her kingdom, after all, and now that things had truly calmed down, she was eager to begin renovations. Catra huffed. Why anyone would be eager to do anything in the fright zone was beyond her understanding. 

Scorpia caught up with her, finally, and cocked an eyebrow, “Aren’t you going to open the door?”

Catra snapped out of her thoughts, an embarrassed blush spreading over her cheeks, one Scorpia knew better than to point out. Sighing loudly, Catra shoved the door open, causing it to come off of it’s hinges and collapse onto the ground.

_Ugh._

“It’s okay,” Scorpia assured her, “we have a lot of work to do, what’s one more door?”

Catra shrugged, struggling to find the words to say. She hadn’t even apologized yet, and Scorpia had already forgiven her. She wondered briefly how the princess could do that, and make it seem so _easy,_ but Catra knew better than to say anything.

Together, they made their way towards the dorms. It was one of the few places that wasn’t demolished during the invasion, so it was an easy enough starting place. Scorpia set down her boxes, taking out several items Catra couldn’t quite identify the use for.

“It’s not in bad shape in here, it really just needs a deep cleaning and a fresh coat of paint.” Scorpia said gleefully, clearly thrilled to begin her new project.

She grabbed a rag, heading directly for Catra’s old bunk, and the hair of the back of Catra’s neck stood on end.

“Uh, why don’t… Why don’t I clean up in here? You can go… fix the door, or something.” Catra grumbled, trying not to let her panic show.

If Scorpia picked up on Catra’s tone, she didn’t mention it. She simply grinned, over the moon that her friend was taking an interest in helping out.

“Sounds great! Give me a shout if you need anything, Wild Cat,” Scorpia handed Catra the rag, and gave her a reassuring pat on the back.

She left the room, and Catra let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding. She gripped the rag tightly in her hand, trying to release her nerves.

She literally _grew up_ here, why was she so freaked out? It’s not like anything here could hurt her. Catra had never been this afraid in the fright zone, not even with Shadow Weaver just down the hall. It was… unnerving.

Catra gathered her hair, now resting just below her shoulders, and pulled it into a high pony tail before approaching Lonnie’s old bunk, actively avoiding her own. 

The bed was filthy. She picked up the pillow between two fingers and tossed it behind her, causing a cloud of dust and dirt to envelope the room. It tickled her nose, and Catra let out a series of completely normal, not at all adorable sounding, sneezes. Scorpia could be heard cooing from down the hall, and Catra bit back the urge to bark at her to shut up. 

She continued stripping the beds, shoving pillow cases and blankets into trash bags. She moved out the bed frames, picking up discarded ration bar wrappers, socks, books. A lot of it was garbage, but Catra couldn’t help but take inventory the things people didn’t have time to pack on their way out. Guilt weighed in her stomach as her brain reminded her that she was to blame for that.

Lonnie’s doodle pad.

Rogelio’s deck of cards.

Under Kyle’s pillow was a carefully folded piece of paper, with his name scrawled across it. Catra, ever the snoop, opened it and read it’s contents:

Kyle-  
today is Tuesday  
-Rogelio

The pure absurdity of the note, the fact that Kyle obviously treasured it dearly, made Catra laugh out loud, momentarily forgetting to hate herself.

Catra scanned the room, her attention falling on her own bunk, the one she shared with Adora so many years ago. She could feel her heart pound in her chest. Now or never.

She inhaled deeply, hoping to exhale all of the anxiety she felt. It didn’t work. She moved gently, like she was trying to sneak up on the bed. Like if she moved to suddenly, it might get up and run away.

Approaching the cot, Catra tried to empty her brain. So many memories flooded her mind, but one stuck out in particular. It was so long ago, it shouldn’t have mattered to her, but she couldn’t get it out of her head. It was right after their fight in Thaymor, when Adora refused to come home, wanted to chase her destiny. Looking back, Catra understands the decision she made, and is even grateful for it. But that doesn’t erase the fact that Catra came back to the fright zone, empty handed, alone. She’d never felt more lost, crying into Adora’s pillow, she had been so pathetic back then. She felt tears spring to her eyes now, just remembering it. 

Catra wiped her stupid eyes and snapped herself out of it. 

Sometimes she feared that, no matter how hard she’s worked at being good, she’d always be that pathetic, evil creature that almost destroyed the world.

Biting hard at the inside of her cheek, Catra forcefully pulled the pillow and blanket off the bed, shoving them into another trash bag. She grabbed hold of the bed frame and yanked it backwards, when she suddenly heard a prominent thud from under the bed. Her ear perked up at the sound.

Catra dropped to the floor, scanning under the bed for what could have fallen, when her eyes landed on a book she’d never seen before. _Boring_ , she thought, huffing in frustration. 

She reached under the bed for the book, brining dust bunnies and filth along with it. It was a simple, yellow spiral notebook, with Adora’s name written sloppily across the front.

Catra blinked confusedly, what was this and how had she never seen it before? 

She opened it to the first page, her eyes landing on a few short sentences written by a much younger Adora.

“Dear Future Adora,

Keep Catra out of trouble

-Past Adora”

A small smile crept onto Catra’s face. The first page was just a series of notes Adora had written to her future self. Most of them were silly reminders, Catra could tell they’d been pretty young when Adora wrote them. Some things had dates on them, but it was mostly a jumbled mess. 

_Kind of like Adora’s brain_ , Catra mused. 

She flipped a few more pages, fondly remembering how young and happy they were, _before_. Before they chose sides, before Adora knew who she really was, before Catra had lost her way.

Turning the page once more, Catra caught glimpse of a line she hadn’t been expecting, “Dear Future Catra.”

_Oh?_ Catra thought, _what’s this?_

Should she read it? Was it her place? The note was literally addressed to her, maybe Adora _wanted_ her to read it, Catra tried to reason. She bit her tongue, so curious about what Adora had written to her.

She was so lost in thought, she hadn’t even heard Scorpia enter the room.

“How’s it going in here?” Scorpia asked suddenly, causing Catra to jump, her tail bushing out in alarm.

“What! Nothing! I’m fine - er - uh - What do you want?” Catra stammered, slamming the book closed and concealing it behind her back as she turned to face Scorpia.

Scorpia, caught off guard by Catra’s odd outburst, gave her a look of concern, “Uh… You okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine!” Catra snapped, scowling at Scorpia. 

How easily she reverted to her old ways.

Scorpia’s face fell when it became apparent that her friend wasn’t going to talk to her, “Alright,” she said softly, “Sorry I bothered you.”

And just like that, she retreated from the door way, back to where she came from. 

The guilt Catra felt was immediate. She sighed, reaching under the bed for a forgotten satchel she could put the notebook in, along with other souvenirs, and followed after Scorpia.

“Scorpia, wait,” Catra said defeatedly, “I shouldn’t have gotten angry, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

She hadn’t exactly apologized, but it was about as close as she would get on a normal day.

Scorpia turned to see a deflated Catra, scratching at the back of her neck sheepishly. 

Breaking out in a smile, Scorpia said, “Don’t sweat it, Wild cat. I didn’t mean to sneak up on you. I know it’s rough being back here…” She trailed off.

Catra relaxed instantly, she knew Scorpia understood her on a level most people couldn’t comprehend. Not for their lack of trying, of course, but hearing about the fright zone was infinitely different than living through it. 

“I uh… I found something. In the dorms,” Catra started cautiously. She fished into her satchel and pulled out Kyle’s note, handing it to Scorpia, “It was under his pillow.”

Scorpia took the note and read it aloud, “ _Kyle, today is Tuesday._ ” Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

“Wow, I knew he had a crush on Rogelio, but this is too much, even for Kyle!” Scorpia laughed loudly.

Catra would never admit it, but she felt her heart swell with pride at the thought of making Scorpia laugh. She liked thinking of Scorpia as a real friend, as opposed to just another force captain.

She grabbed the note back and carefully put it back in her satchel, “I’m going to bring it to Brightmood for him, I’m sure he’ll want to have it back,” Catra laughed.

“Got anything else in there?” Scorpia asked, eyeing the bag.

“Oh, uh… just some things I found,” Catra mumbled, suddenly feeling shy about her discovery. She wasn’t even sure Adora would want her to see the journal, let alone Scorpia. 

“I’m glad you found some stuff worth keeping. This place isn’t all bad,” Scorpia mused, a glint of hope in her eye.

Catra really hoped she was right.


End file.
